Compression Travel Bag Review

I’m heading off to the World Master shortly (lucky me). When travelling space in your cases can be at a premium. Especially if you are just taking carry on luggage. One thing I’ve discovered recently are compression travel bags. I’ve had two of them for a while now. I thought I would give you guys a steer on these things. So here’s my comparison of the BJJ Globetrotters compression travel bag and the Eagle Creek Pack-It Specter Compression Cube.

What is a compression travel bag?

It is a small bag that has a double zipper on it. This allows you to securely pack your clothes in it. You can then squeeze it as flat as possible and use the second zipper to keep it compressed. This means that your clothes will take up less space in your case.

Why pick these two?

The Eagle Creek seemed to get good reviews on Amazon and was reasonably priced. So it looked like a good option to start with. The BJJ Globetrotters I bought because it was specifically designed to hold a BJJ gi or two.

The Look

Eagle Creek

When it arrived I was a little concerned as the material is very lightweight. You can pretty much see through it. I instantly thought I was going to rip it when using it. However is it a rip stop material and meant to be sturdy. I assured myself it would be fine and the lightness would actually be beneficial. Plus it was a cool green colour.

BJJ Globetrotters

This instantly felt much more sturdy. The material is still rip stop but a little thicker than the Eagle Creek. I had a lot more confidence this would put up the abuse I would put it through.

Conclusion

I do a fair bit of travelling to compete and gis can take up a lot of space. Especially if you are only taking carry on luggage. So I do think these compression organisers are extremely useful.

The Eagle Creek Packing Organiser,

It is surprisingly sturdy despite its lightweight appearance. It is slightly smaller than the BJJ Globetrotters’ bag and therefore does not hold quite as much. The gi I get into it is one of the lightest gis I have. You can tell the difference from the GSM numbers. (Just in case GSM means if you take precisely one square meter of the material, ball it up and put it on a scale, the number should be whatever the GSM is indicated as being- a 420 GSM fabric will be 550 grams per square meter) So the size of gi that will fit and compress is smaller. Plus the compression is a little more difficult with this one, as the zippers are a little more awkward. If you are a smaller person gi wise, or if you are just packing general clothes this would work great. It is able to compress T Shirts, underwear and the like no problem. But then again that is what it is actually designed for.

The BJJ Globetrotter bag

On the other hand has obviously been designed with the BJJ traveller in mind. The construction is much sturdy. You can just tell it was designed to have to squish down a gi. Plus it can hold some clothes too. So with a couple of these you would probably have most of your packing done for any BJJ trip.

Both bags have a handy loop on them if you wanted to hang the bag up or pull it out of a tightly packed bag.

My preference would be the BJJ Globetrotters’ bag. For the extra minor cost you seem to get more for your money and I’m all about that. Even if you’re not going to put a gi in it, the stronger construction gives me more confidence that I’ll get a lot more use out of it. If you are interested in either of the items you can find them at the links below.